Two sisters. Two kitchens. One love for cooking.

Thai Shrimp Coconut Soup

I love trying to recreate recipes that I enjoy when I am out to dinner. This recipe was inspired by my most recent trip to San Francisco, much like the shrimp and grits, I was eager to recreate this once I got home! But first, let me give you a little back story on why I chose to order this soup. Last summer my friend Miriam and I went to dinner at East Cost Grill in Inman Square after completing our last race of the season, a race that finished by crawling through a pit of mud! If that doesn’t deserve a celebratory dinner I don’t know what does! I digress….we ordered a nice cold beer and a few different appetizers. Spicy coconut muscle being the highlight of the night. If I told you we still talk about how AMAZING those muscle were at least once a month would you believe me?

Fast forward 10 months Miriam has moved to San Francisco and I make my way out west for a visit. My first night there Miriam, our friend Laura and I went to dinner at Citrus Club . One of the specials for the night was a Spicy Coconut Shrimp Soup. There was no need to even discuss it, Miriam and I would be splitting that dish. Boy oh boy we did not regret our decision we now can each enjoy amazing spicy coconut dishes on our respective costs.

mmmmmmm

Thai coconut Soup

1 can coconut milk

3 cups chicken or veggie broth

1 large red bell pepper

3 shallots

2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger

spice of your choice (I use paprika and red pepper flakes)

1 package Nasoya Chinese Noodles

15-20 shrimp

Saute the bell pepper and shallots on high heat for about two minutes. Add chicken broth and ginger and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes. While the vegetables and broth boil cook the noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes (directions on the back of the package). Stir in coconut milk, spices and noodles bring to a boil again. While boiling for the second time, saute shrimp in a frying pan. I seasoned mine with a little bit of paprika. And the last step-add the juice of one lime.

Note: In my excitement to eat this soup I forgot to take pictures of the cooking process, please forgive me!

This was my first time cooking with coconut milk and let me share with you my surprise when I opened the can- it appeared to be hard coconut milk. After frantically calling my Mom (that’s is what Mom’s are for right?) and reading the can I learned that coconut milk naturally settles and hardens a bit. My Mom suggested I dump it into a bowl and see what is underneath…sure enough it was liquid. I put the contents of the whole can in a bowl and microwaved for about 20 seconds. It was now all liquid. This is what I love about working with new ingredients, you always learn something new!

My roommate and I enjoyed a nice dinner together and proclaimed that this was a very very good soup. I know I will be repeating this again in the near future!